Position Description
The Teaching & Learning Support Team (TLS) in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC is seeking a Graduate Academic Assistant (GAA) to provide support for the Large Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) AI Innovation Project. In this approved TLEF project, we aim to develop a GenAI Course Assistant for large Forestry courses. The GAA will collaborate closely with the developers in the TLS team, course instructors and Teaching Assistants to verify and clean forestry specific course data. The GAA will assist the use of other educational technologies, prepare and update course materials, support the pilot stage, develop surveys, and participate in educational research. This position offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the development and use of AI in higher education.
Salary
The salary for this position will be $35.12/hour, 12 hours/week, for a maximum of 600 hours/position.
This position will start on May 1, 2025 and end on April 30, 2026.
Job Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Job Nature
On-Campus, in person and/or remote
Description of Duties
- Help verify and test subject-specific data that will be used in GenAI course assistant tool, ensuring accuracy and alignment with course content.
- Evaluate the quality and structure of learning materials to improve model response quality, relevance, and retrieval performance.
- Work with project and teaching teams to translate learning materials into formats consumable by a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) mechanism.
- Assess AI-generated responses for correctness, contextual relevance, and potential biases, and refine them as needed.
- Collaborate with teaching teams and developers to refine LLM prompting techniques and ensure query responses encourage critical thought without providing direct answers.
- Develop surveys and evaluation metrics for AI tutoring effectiveness, focusing on student engagement, learning outcomes, and feedback monitoring.
- Review anonymized student usage data to analyze trends, measure AI adoption, and support iterative improvements in tutoring support.
- Document and report findings on AI model accuracy, usability, and recommendations for future iterations to improve forestry education.
- Assist in training teaching teams and other users on using the GenAI Course Assistant.
- Create technical documentation for internal processes and end-users.
- Perform other tasks as assigned.
Supervision Received
This position will work under direct supervision with the Senior Manager, Educational Strategies, and works closely with the Teaching and Learning Support Team, instructors, and TAs. Work involves both independent work and within a team environment. The employee will maintain regular contact with the supervisor through weekly meetings, as well as email and MS Teams, as necessary.
Experience level
- Current UBC-V students in an undergraduate program at UBC
Preferred Degrees/Disciplines
- Forestry/Science/Environment/Agriculture
- Computer Science/IT
- Applied Science/Engineering
- Arts
Qualifications
- Current UBC students in a graduate program at UBC-V.
- Knowledge of topics related to forestry, data science, computer science, or related fields.
- Experience with LLMs and RAG-based systems is preferred.
- Ability to evaluate AI-generated responses and assess knowledge retrieval accuracy.
- Familiarity with the Canvas LMS online learning platform.
- Experience with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.).
- Experience using Microsoft tools such as MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and UBC OneDrive.
- Ability to effectively communicate with instructors, TAs, and other members of the Teaching and Learning Support Team.
- Ability to communicate technical concepts effectively to individuals with varying levels of expertise and understanding.
- Prior experience as a TA or research assistant in forestry, education, or data analysis is an asset.
- Prior experience using Python or R for data processing, analysis and visualization is an asset.
How to Apply for this Graduate Academic Assistant Position
Interested applicants should apply by submitting their resume and cover letter via the UBC Careersonline website. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2025.